Isoda Koryūsai. A shunga scene with a woman and two male partners, 1770-71.

Artist: Isoda Koryūsai (礒田湖龍斎, active c. 1764–1789)

Signed: 湖龍画 (Koryū ga), on the folding screen

Publisher: Not identified

Date: c. 1770–1771

Media: Nishiki-e (multi-colored woodblock print), chūban, 191 × 256 mm

Title: Not titled on print

"A threesome between a woman and two men: a woman lies on top of a young boy and is covered by the large, naked body of an adult man, who at the same time holds the boy's penis. Sexual encounters between more than two people occur frequently in shunga, and Hokusai even designed erotic works in which complete orgies are depicted. A folding screen, placed at the end of the futon and decorated with peonies and butterflies, hides the intimacies from other people who might be in the same room. The screen on the right has the signature Koryū ga on the left panel and there is a tabakobon (煙草盆) on the left of the image".

The background wall is decorated with a pattern of fishing nets and flying geese, rendered in gauffrage (blind embossing, 空摺り, karazuri), adding subtle texture to the composition. The inscription to the left of the figures remains undeciphered.

Reference: [LIB-1491.2018] Inge Klompmakers. Japanese erotic prints shunga by Harunobu and Koryūsai. — Leiden and Boston: Hotei publishing, 2008; Plate C.5, p. 88.